Key resources

With a view to contributing to the protection and guarantee of the human rights of women living with HIV and/or violence, the has worked to analyze and strengthen both the legal framework and public policies on HIV and violence against women from a perspective of human rights.

As a follow-up to the project "Human rights, HIV and violence against women in Central America: A comprehensive response," and in response to, on the one hand, the demands of the community of women living with HIV and, on the other hand, resolution 2802 (2013) of the OAS' General Assembly on "Promotion and protection of the human rights of persons vulnerable to, living with, or affected by HIV/AIDS in the Americas," CIM began working on the analysis of and support to the human rights of women living with HIV in the Americas.

Results:

Human Rights of Women Living with HIV in the Americas (CIM, 2016)

The aim of this report is to enrich discussion among OAS Member States and their allies on the challenges that gender inequalities pose for the response to HIV and the actions necessary to scale up and create strategies that allow positive women to exercise their rights to decent work, education, housing, health, social protection, information, social and political participation, to live free from stigma, discrimination and violence.

Guide to strengthening the exercise of the human rights of women living with HIV in Latin America(CIM, 2014)

This Guide is based on initiatives developed at the international, regional and national levels that over the last few decades have provided the basis for advancing government responses to gender equality, including the Agenda for Accelerated Country Action for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV (UNAIDS, 2010) and the Global Fund Strategy on Gender Equality (2008), as well as key documents on the elimination of HIV or the goal of zero discrimination. The Guide is a tool that will allow for analysis of the progress made by different sectors in terms of generating knowledge, advocacy, and promotion of the human rights of women living with HIV.

From January 2009 to December 2011, with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), CIM implemented the project "Human rights, HIV and violence against women in Central America: A comprehensive response."

The project contributed to creating and strengthening integrated responses to women living with HIV and/or violence through the development and implementation of intregrated policies and programs from a perspective of human rights in Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama) and the Caribbean (Antigua and Barbuda, Barabdos, Dominica, Grenada and Guyana).

Results:

Promising practices in the integrated management of HIV and violence against women

The project has identified 10 promising practices in Latin America that are notable for their integrated focus on HIV and violence against women. The practices included in this document, which seeks to promote the exchange of experiences and the development of capacity, were implemented in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Uruguay.

Integrated policy and program model for addressing HIV and violence against women in Panama

The model that is presented in this document aims to guide governmental and non-governmental organizations in integrating policies and programs that address HIV and violence against women; identifying lessons learned that can be adapted and applied to different local and national contexts.

Integrated policy and program model for addressing HIV and violence against women in Guatemala

The model that is presented in this document aims to guide governmental and non-governmental organizations in integrating policies and programs that address HIV and violence against women; identifying lessons learned that can be adapted and applied to different local and national contexts.

HIV and violence against women in Central America: A human rights-based comparative analysis of the legal framework

This document aims to provide a basis for policy and programme design that integrates HIV and VAW from a human rights perspective in Central America. The inclusion of human rights in relation to VAW within the body of the law coincided with the appearance of the HIV epidemic and a growing governmental concern for the enormous human, social and economic costs of this new epidemic.

The law should promote respect for and guarantee the protection of human rights of all members of society. On this basis, it is of interest to understand how the different States use the law to address the multiple links between HIV and VAW, in order to eliminate human rights violations against women surviving in these contexts.

Ethical considerations for an integral response to human rights, HIV and violence against women in Central America

This document looks at the challenges in developing programmes and policies that integrate HIV and VAW on the basis of justice, gender equality and human rights and suggests ethical considerations for the health, social protection and other sectors that focus on HIV and/or violence against women, where efforts to integrate the two issues may be particularly relevant.

The aim of the document is to provide a guide to ethical thinking and decision-making, as well as the establishment of multi-sectoral partnerships and the search for common ground with the meaningful involvement of those who are at the intersection of violence against women and HIV – particularly women living with HIV and women with experience of violence.

The aim of these situation analyses is to describe, on the basis of a unified methodology utilized in all four countries, the socio-economic and demographic context of the country, the dimensions of the HIV and violence against women epidemics (prevalence and incidence), as well as their impact on women, families and communities. The analysis also explores some of the strengths and weaknesses of existing national policies and strategies and the institutional/organizational framework.

These stakeholder analyses complement the situation analyses with an identification of key sectors and institutions involved in an integrated model for addressing HIV and violence against women in the four project countries. The analyses look at the institutional profiles of each actor (goal, objectives, initiatives), their capacities, experience with inter-sectoral coordination and motivation in terms of the two thematic axes of the project.